an enduring repository of mathematical knowledge

It is three months since I gave the talk at TEDx Johannesburg and it is now live on YouTube.

This talk is entitled “Brain Surgery for Young Mathematical Minds” and it addresses the challenges in changing a child’s thinking when they struggle with mathematics and considers a future in which AI teachers may be better than all mathematics teachers.

In creating a new museum from a zero base, as we are doing for the Museum of Mathematics (MUMA), there are first things, second things, and other things which are required to be actioned.

MUMA is planned to be a world-class museum, meeting world-wide best practices for all aspects of the museum operations. This means that we need to address at least three specific core practices: (1) How we establish a governance structure, for a long-lasting sustainable entity, (2) What collections we maintain, and how we protect these to be of benefit for future generations of users, and (3) How we service the needs of our users.

This is the real start of the Museum of Mathematics (MUMA), and the structuring of the work of MUMA into programmes of action.

These programmes are divided into COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT, in which physical collections are being develop by purchase and donation, and KNOWLEDGE COLLECTIONS, in which we capture the knowledge of mathematics.

This is currently an initiative driven by myself and my team, and over time I hope to attract a range of volunteers to help us.

It is a core strategic focus to develop MUMA as a registered NPO with a governing body representing key people with an interest in and a love of mathematics to help drive MUMA into the future. I am merely the conduit to get this project started, and as part of this I am donating my entire collection of mathematics books and equipment to kick start the collections. These are being accessioned into our collections, and the collection information is being maintained by the ETHER Base Collection Management System (which happens to be developed by ourselves).

Please contact me if you would like to get involved in any of our programmes, or if you are a company who would like to engage with us in supporting this initiative.